The Tempest

Sam Mendes' production of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy "As You Like It," which premiered last month at Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the 2010 Bridge Project, is so unnecessarily chilly that the Forest of Arden practically freezes over.

But his dark, melancholy vision is a natural fit for "The Tempest," now running in repertory with "As You Like It" with the same mixed cast of American and English actors. Shakespeare's drama, about an exiled duke who uses his magical powers to cause a shipwreck that finally brings his enemies to justice, has stronger characters and allows for an imaginative reinterpretation.

Mendes presents the play without intermission and integrates a score of gentle, percussive music. The set design consists of a simple circle of sand at center stage, representing Prospero's island. The creature Caliban makes an incredible entrance by breaking through its center from down below. Behind it is a shallow pool of water, where half of the cast sits in a weird state of solitary confinement.

Stephen Dillane's Prospero is a natural extension of his performance as the melancholy Jacques in "As You Like It." Dillane portrays him as a weary, lonely drifter with a sarcastic edge. His costume consists of a roughed-up, ripped-apart black suit, referencing the fact that Prospero has been castaway on a deserted island for years.

Christian Camargo, whose performance as the innocent Orlando in "As You Like It" resembles Hamlet, is far more convincing as the ethereal spirit Ariel. Like Dillane, Camargo downplays the role and brings a mysterious quality. He also looks rather like a model in his clean suit revealing a bare chest.

The rest of the cast is quite strong, making this "Tempest" a seamless, totally focused fusion of stage design, directorial tone and performance.

"The Tempest" plays in repertory with "As You Like It" at the BAM Harvey Theater

651 Fulton St., Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, bam.org.